Disney+ Price Reveal Causes ‘Gasps in the Room’, Internet Completely Stunned

The reaction to Disney’s new streaming service arrived swiftly after the studio announced its pricing and content offerings. Most were quick to praise, while others had their concerns about how long the service remains at this introductory level. But for most, it was pure shock.

“Gasps in the room when Kevin Mayer announced the $6.99 monthly price for [Disney Plus],” Variety writer Cynthis Littleton noted on Twitter. And the gasps from the room soon drifted online from Disney fans who were following each new addition online.

One big takeaway from the reveal is that it took the legs out of Netflix and landed a few punches to boot. The announcement of Disney’s streaming service in 2018 marked the end of the rival streaming platform’s exclusive deal for Disney’s collection of films. This includes any Pixar, Star Wars, or Marvel films on the service. The announcement of the low $6.99 per month price tag, or $69.99 per year, was seen by a few as another direct assault on Netflix.

“I’m really impressed with the value of [Disney Plus],” Another user wrote on Twitter. “It went the opposite direction of what I expected. In my mind, they could charge more because of their library. But they ended up making the price HALF of [Netflix].”

Netflix also raised their prices at the start of 2019, raising their basic plan to $9 per month and the HD streaming plan to $13 per month.

While this does fall in Disney’s favor, some online were skeptical that the price would stay there past the first year of Disney Plus’ existence.

Others also also injected some humor into it.

“Disney+ definitely gonna jump in price so we’ve all gotta agree to tweet about how trash it is while watching The Aristocats for the 15th time,” another honest user noted on social media.

Some also noted the amount of content that Disney now has under their command following the Fox merger. Disney Plus will be the exclusive streaming home of The Simpsons when it debuts, while they also have access to most of Fox’s other TV series and film production. That gives them a heavy hand to hold over fellow streaming platforms.

Not to mention they also have a clear stake in Hulu now, as exhibited on the screen during their presentation on Thursday.

But this doesn’t mean it is all good news for the platform or the price announcement. Some have noted that the amount of content Disney controls now will give them some strength when it comes to removing content elsewhere.

“When [WWE] started their streaming service, they cracked down on all of the YouTube videos of old matches & got them removed for copyright reasons,” a concerned user pointed out on Twitter. “[Disney Twitter] , take note. This will happen again when [Disney Plus] launches.”

It also leaves the status of Disney’s home video releases up in the air. Will they continue to release them and make them available, or will they want audiences to switch to their streaming service. In the end, it is up to them and it will be interesting to see where the company goes with this service.